Improvement in cloth-testing machines



WILLIAM HEBDON, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN CLOTH-TESTING MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 166,366, dated August3, 1875; application filed January 20,1875.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM HEBDON, of Boston, in the county of Suffolkand State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements inMachines for Testing Cloth, 850., of which the following is aspecification:

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,Figure l is a longitudinal section of my invention, and Fig. 2 a planview of the same.

The object of the present invention is to effect certain new and usefulimprovements in machines for testing or ascertaining the tensilestrength of cloth, whereby the operation is performed in a convenient,expeditious, and efficacious manner. To this end my invention consists,mainly, in two corrugated chaps or clamps, locatedone behind the other,to travel on longitudinal guide rods or ways, each chap having ahinged-top clamp or chap corrugated on its bottom, so that when broughtdown upon the lower chap the cloth is held between the corrugatedsurfaces of the clamps or chaps, the hinged chaps being held or releasedby hinged levercams bearing upon their swinging ends. My improvementsfurther consist in a spring-balance having an index connected, by aspring-rod, with the rear chap, and operating in such manner as toindicate the tensile strength of goods of various make; also, in astop-guide arranged to move loosely on the index-plate, and be advancedby the forward movement of the index to the point at which the partingof the cloth particles occurs, at which point it is left until thedegree is noted, the index at the breaking of the cloth being carriedback by the spring to its original position. My improvements furtherconsist in a cam arranged to turn against the rear of the inner or rearchap, to allow the gradual return, and prevent the sudden springingback, of the latter when released by the parting of the cloth particles.My improvements consist, finally, in forming the box or frame of themachine with glazed openings containing a list of mills ormanufacturers, and a description or statement of the weight, price,strength, 850., of standard goods, all of which I will now proceed todescribe.

In the drawings, A represents the body or frame of the machine,consisting of two side plates of metal connected by transverse endplates, or otherwise formed to support two parallel longitudinalguide-rods, E, and a central longitudinal screw-shaft, B, operated by awheel or crank, (J. The shaft B passes through and engages with asliding carriage or chap, D, arranged to travel on the guiderods E, andis corrugated on its top in the direction of its length. F is a jaw,chap, or clamp, corrugated on its under surface to correspond with thecorrugated surface of the chap D. The chap or clamp F is hinged at oneend to the chap D. 66 a are arms hinged or pivoted to the opposite endof the chap D, said arms receiving in their swinging ends the trunnionsof an eccentric roller or cam, Gr, having a handle or lever, G, by meansof which the cam is raised up over the swinging end of the hinged chapF, and turned so as to press the latter closely against the uppersurface of the chap 1). I is a chap similar in construction to'the chapD, and having also a hinged clamp or chap, 1, held in the same manner asthe chap F, above described. The chaps D I are provided with shelves di, which are flush with the upper surfaces of the chaps, and projecttoward each other, so as to form a continuous bed for the cloth when thechaps are brought together, the cloth being placed upon the bed soformed, and held by the hinged clamps or chaps F I, as shown. The rearof the carriage or chap I is connected with a longitudinalspringbalance, 8, having a bar or rod, K, provided at the rear end witha coiled or other spring, K, so arranged as to allow the requiredtension to the rod K and chap I when drawn out, and to return them totheir original positions at the parting of the cloth. The springbalanceis located in the rear portion of a box or frame, L, whose forwardportion contains the frame A of the machine. The top of the frame or boxL is formed with a central opening, through which is viewed adial-plate, M, suitably graduated, and marked against a centrallongitudinal slot, which allows the backand-forth motion of an index, N,which is connected to the spring-rod of the rear chap. On either side ofthe central dial-opening are glazed openings, 0, in which are insertedtables or lists of the principal mills or manufactui ers, and theweight, price, strength, &c., of their goods, so that the operator maysee at a glance whether or not the goods tested agree with the standardquality. Forward of the index is located, to readily travel on thedial-plate, a slide or stop, P, formed with a rearwardly-projectingfinger, P, or otherwise formed, as preferred, to receive the abutmentof, so as to be advanced by, the index, which carries it forward untilthe breaking of the cloth retreats the index proper, leaving the slideto mark the point at which the cloth parted, which point being noted theslide is pushed back by hand to its original position. Q is an eccentricplate or cam, pivoted to the frame A in such manner as to be pressedagainst the rear chap I, as shown in the drawings, and prevent the toosudden recoil of the chap when the tension is released by the parting ofthe cloth.

The operation is as follows: The two chaps are brought together withtheir projecting shelves in contact with each other, so as to form acontinuous bed between the chaps on which the cloth is placed, thelatter also extending across the corrugated surfaces of the chaps. Thehinged clamps or chaps F I are then turned down on the cloth, and theirswinging ends are confined by the roller-cams G, as above stated. Theshaft B is next rotated, carrying the chap D away from the chap I, andexerting a tensile strain on the cloth, which advances the rear chap Iand index N. The spring of the rod K supplies the required tension todraw on the chap I, while it is advanced by the strain on the cloth, thelatter being thus'pulled by the chapsin opposite directions until thecloth is parted, when the chap I and index N reco l to their originalposition, leaving the sliding stop P at the point where it was left whenthe separation occurred, thus designating the degree of strain underwhich the cloth particles were parted. The hinged clamps or chaps F Iare then released by turning the cams Gr off from their swinging ends,thereby allowing the removal of the fragments of cloth and theintroduction of other samples.

The hinged upper clamps or chaps and their holding-cams are convenientlyan d quickly adjusted, and hold the cloth with great firmness.

' I claim as my invention 1. In a cloth-testing machine, two slidingjaws or clamps adapted to hold'a piece of cloth or other materialbetween them, one jaw being connected directly to a screw-shaft, whichgives it motion, and the other to a spring indicating mechanism,substantially as described.

2. In a cloth-testing machine, the combination of the traveling chaps DI, corrugated on their upper surfaces, the hinged portions F I,corrugated on their lower surfaces, and the cams G, journaled in theswinging arms a a, and provided with handles G, all arranged andoperating substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. The chaps D I, having the projections or shelves d z", substantiallyas and for the purpose specified. V

4. The combination of the traveling chaps D I and their attachments withthe screwshaft B and spring-balance s, all arranged and operatingsubstantially as described.

5. The cam Q, adapted to prevent the sudden recoil of the chap I,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

